<p>I've just gotten a job as a tutor (not through the school) and although I have some experience helping my younger sisters with schoolwork, and I think I'll really like the job, I'm kind of worried. I really want to a good job, and so I'm wondering if anyone on CC has experience with tutoring - what's it like, what's hard and what's easy and so on.</p>
<p>What grade levels are you tutoring? One of the many rewards you get by tutoring is that you can refresh your grammar skills or mathematics skills by tutoring your fellow peers. Also, one of the best study methods is to teach someone the material you are trying to learn. Always compliment your peer. There will be times where you will have to go over a topic over and over and over and over again… Catch my drift? In no circumstances should you express any anger or irritation in times like this. Before you start any tutoring, ask your student what material they wish to go over and the night before, go over some of that material so you can really teach it to them. Be friendly and open. I remember when I was a kid that I hated tutors because it was so awkward. I felt stupid and inferior to my tutors because they were always stuck up. I hoped this helped.</p>
<p>I’m a senior, but will be tutoring lower grades. Just being nice and creating a comfortable atmosphere, then? I’ve never actually had a tutor myself.</p>
<p>If you don’t mind my asking, how did you get a tutoring job? Are you a private tutor? I was interested in doing this where I live to make some extra money but I don’t know how to find customers.</p>
<p>You’ve got to have a friendly relationship with the person you’re tutoring. You don’t have to be their friend, but you do need to be able to talk casually with them before and after tutoring. It’s waaaaaay easier to teach somebody who is comfortable around you and likes you. If your client is resisting you the whole way, it’s impossible to make up any ground.</p>
<p>You’ve also got to understand the material far better than any class would ever ask you to. Remember, it’s not about what you can understand; it’s about what you can make somebody else understand. That means you need to be able to simplify material in a way that a lot of teachers don’t. Rather than try to teach an entire class in an hour or two a week, focus only on the skills directly tested in the class. Your client is still going to be going to class; your job is to reinforce the most important parts. </p>
<p>As far as finding clients, I’ve talked to teachers who I know liked me and asked them to circulate my name to parents. I’ve also tutored a couple people I know through swimming and cross country. When I hear them talking about doing badly in a class, I offer to tutor them. You can either go at it from the parents or the students, but you really only need one on your side to get the job.</p>
<p>I’ve done volunteer tutoring before at two places. Obviously, the type of student that you’re going to get will be different from the type that I got, so take this with a grain of salt. I mostly tutored struggling hispanic middle-schoolers and people with D’s or F’s at my private HS.</p>
<p>The most important thing is trust and respect. A student that likes you and wants to make you happy is infinitely better than an uninterested student who doesn’t want anything to do with you. This will be easier with younger students. You also always want to be positive. I too tutored without ever having been tutored myself and I made the BIG mistake of becoming frustrated at one point. Even if you learned all this stuff without many problems and it seems easy to you, try to be understanding and patient. You don’t want there to be anxiety in your relationship, because a lot of struggling students already have this anxiety and it might actually be why they need tutoring in the first place. You need to maintain or improve their confidence.</p>
<p>Usually the material will be rather easy, but often it will be strictly memorization without concepts. This can be good, but it’s frustrating to teach. The teaching itself it thus usually easy, just make absolutely sure that your student does and understands everything.</p>